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Meeting the challenges of global rice production

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Paddy Water Environ (2006) 4: 1–9
DOI 10.1007/s10333-005-0031-5
EDITORIAL
Nguu Van Nguyen · Aldo Ferrero
Meeting the challenges of global rice production
Received: 22 August 2005 / Published online: 9 February 2006


C Springer-Verlag 2005
Nguu Van Nguyen
About the Author. Nguu Van Nguyen earned his PhD in Agron-
omy in 1976 from the University of the Philippines at Los
Banos (UPLB). He has been serving for 2 years as Post-
Doctoral Fellow, at the International Rice Research Institute
and for other two as Assistant Professor at UPLB Univer-
sity. He has been working from 1980 to 1993 as agronomist
at IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) and
at Philippine Rice Research Institute. In 1991, he began his
professional career at FAO, initially as rice agronomist, in
West Africa, then as agricultural officer at Crop and Grass-
land Service. Since 2004 he is serving as Executive Secretary,
International Rice Commission.
N. Van Nguyen
Crop and Grassland Service, FAO, Viale delle Terme di
Caracalla, 00100 Roma,
Italy
A. Ferrero (
)
Dipartimento di Agronomia, Selvicoltura e Gestione del
Territorio Università di Torino,
via Leonardo da Vinci,
44 10095 Grugliasco, Italy
e-mail: aldo.ferrero@unito.it
Aldo Ferrero
About the Author. Aldo Ferrero is at present Professor of
“Weed Science”, “Agronomy” and “Crop Science” and head of
the “Department of Agronomy, Forest and Land Management,
University of Turin (Italy). He is coordinator of the rice FAO
network “Medrice”, for Europe, Mediterranean, and Middle
East countries. He possesses a wide experience in the field of
the weed eco-biology and weed control in rice systems. He
has been co-ordinator of European research projects funded
by the European Union. He currently co-ordinates the project
“EU-India Rice districts network promotion through agro-
economical, cross cultural, and technical actions” (RICE-
NET) aimed at studying agro-economical, cultural, and his-
torical traits of the rice cultivation in the European and Indian
rice districts, in order to improve socio-economical relation-
ships between the two geographical areas. He is referee and
member of the editorial board of several international journals.
Abstract Rice is the second most widely grown cereal
crop and the staple food for more than half the world’s
population. More than 3 billion people consume more than
100 kg of rice per year. Rice is cultivated on 155.5 million
ha with an average growth rate of 0.39% a year, in the last
30 years. In the near future, the possibility for expanding
areas under rice-based systems will remain very limited
because of the scarcity of global water resources for agri-
2
culture, the expansion of urban and industrial sectors in
Asia where land is already limited and the high costs of
developing new lands that are suited for rice production
in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The average
growth rate of rice yield was 3.68% per year in the early
1980s, but it has decreased to 0.74% per year in the late
1990s. Several factors may contribute to the decline of the
area under cultivation and in yield growth. The most impor-
tant of these factors are: limited returns as we approach the
yield potential of the high yielding varieties, declining pro-
ductivity in intensive rice production systems, pressures
from abiotic and biotic stresses, low returns in develop-
ing countries, increasing production costs in industrialized
countries, and increasing public concern for the protec-
tion of environmental resources. One of the most effective
means of addressing the issues in rice cultivation and rais-
ing the average yields at the farm level is through research
and subsequent dissemination of the resulting data. Rice
science has made considerable progress. In the area of rice
varietal improvement, recent advances in hybrid rice and
the new rice for Africa (NERICA) are just two examples of
the successful contributions of science to the development
of rice. Research could also help reduce the gap between the
potential yield obtained on experimental stations and the
actual yield obtained in the fields. This could be possible
by developing and promoting rice integrated crop manage-
ment (RICM) systems for improving productivity and re-
ducing the production cost per unit of output. The need for
a sustainable increase in rice production affects everyone.
The International Year of Rice provide us with a chance to
improve food security, alleviate poverty and preserve the
environment for the billions of people for whom Rice is Life.
Keywords Rice yield . Rice constraints . Hybrid rice .
Ricecheck system . Med-rice
Introduction
In December 2002, the General Assembly of the United
Nations declared 2004 the International Year of Rice. The
dedication of an International Year after a single crop is
unprecedented in the history of the United Nations. It re-
flects the fact that rice is not only the primary food source
for over 3 billion people, but also a focus within complex
rice-based production ecosystems that influences issues of
global concern, such as food security, poverty alleviation,
preservation of cultural heritage, and sustainable develop-
ment. The declaration of the International Year of Rice
was also a recognition of the serious constraints that the
rice-based systems are facing today and the need for con-
certed efforts to overcome them. The world’s population
is still growing, many rice farmers and their families are
still living in poverty and there are still about 800 million
people in the world today who are suffering from malnu-
trition, while rice growth rates are declining in yield, soil
fertility depletion, negative environmental effects, falling
rice prices, and increased production costs. Fortunately,
there are emerging innovations in the field of technol-
ogy transfer, which promise to enhance the productivity
and efficiency of rice-based systems to safeguard food se-
curity and reduce rural poverty. The implementation of
the International Year of Rice provides an opportunity for
all concerned stakeholders to meet the challenges of rice
production.
Major challenges of rice production
Global rice production, so far, has been able to meet
population demands. However, its ability to continue
this performance is in question unless appropriate ac-
tion is taken in the near future. In the immediate fu-
ture, the main challenges for rice production include in-
creasing demand for rice from population growth, the
limited possibility for expanding harvested area, de-
clining rice yield growth, and low returns from rice
production.
The increasing demand for rice
In 2001, the world’s population consumed more rice than
wheat and/or maize, the other two major cereals. In the
same year, more than 3.1 billion people consumed 100 kg
of rice or more (Table 1). Worldwide, rice provides 27%
of dietary energy supply and 20% of dietary protein. Rice
production nearly doubled during the period from 1970
(316 M tonnes) to 2001 (592.8 M tonnes). The average
growth rate of rice production during this period was 2.29%
per year (Table 2). However, since 2000, the world’s rice
growth rate has declined and it has been less than the world
rice consumption (Fig. 1). Against this background, the
world’s population was projected to increase from 6.13
billion in 2001 to 8.27 billion in 2030. Rice demand is
projected to increase from 571.9 M tonnes in 2001 to
771.1 M tonnes in 2030. The food security of the grow-
Table 1 Maize, rice and wheat: production, consumption as food
and number of people with more than 100 kg supply in 2001
Maize Rice, paddy Wheat
Food (Mt) 112,573,807 517,969,638 419,090,760
Population with >100 kg 185,895 3,143,875 991,557
supply/Cap/(1000)
Source of data: FAOSTAT
Table 2 Population and rice production, harvested area, and yield
during 1970–2001
Growth rate
1970 2001 (%/year)
Population 3.69 billion 6.13 billion 1.66
Rice production 316.3 M tonnes 592.8 M tonnes 2.29
Rice harvested 133 Million ha 155.5 Million ha 0.39
area
Rice yield 2,377 kg/ha 3,912 kg/ha 1.90
Source of data: FAOSTAT
 3

Fig. 1 World’s rice production Milled rice production and consumption, 1993-2004
and consumption, 1993 to 2003 430.0
(Source of data: Calpe,
420.0
personnal communication)
410.0

400.0

Million tons of milled rice

390.0

380.0 Production

370.0 Consumption

360.0

350.0

340.0

330.0

320.0
1993- 1994- 1995- 1996- 1997- 1998- 1999- 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003-
94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

ing population in the next 30 years requires a reversion of 4

the decline in the growth of the production of rice that was 3.5
observed since 2000. 3

Growth rate (%/year)

2.5

The limited growth in rice harvested area 2

During the 1970–2001 period, the harvested rice area grew
only about 0.39% per year, which resulted in an increase
from 133 million ha in 1970 to 155.5 million ha in 2001
(Table 2). This increase in harvested area was mainly due to
an increase in cropping intensification. In tropical climate
areas with favorable temperature regimes, two or more rice
crops can be grown on the same land in a year. Rice-rice and
rice-other crop-rice systems are very popular with farmers
in Bangladesh, southern China, southern India, Indonesia,
Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam. A rice-rice system
is also widely practiced in many irrigated lands in sub-
Saharan Africa.
In the near future, the possibility for expanding the area
under rice-based systems will remain very limited as the
competition for land in major rice producing countries in
Asia has been very intensive due to the expansion of ur-
ban and industrial sectors. In a number of countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, there are still con-
siderable land areas that are suited for rice production. The
high cost of developing this land, however, is the major
constraint.
The expansion of total rice harvested area through rice-
cropping intensification may also be limited in the future
due to, at least, the following factors:
• The scarcity of water resources due to competition from
urban and industrial sectors, especially in Asia. In-
adequate water supply in Spain, Portugal, Egypt and
Australia. In fact, the Egyptian government has a plan to
limit the area under rice production due to limited water
supply.
• A reduction in investments on the development of ir-
rigation infrastructures. For example, there has been a
decline of about 60% in investments in irrigation in Asia
since the 1960s.
1.5
1
0.5
0
19 8 1 - 8 5 1986-90 1991-95 1996-2000
Fig. 2 Average growth rate of rice yield, 1980–2000 (Source of
data: FAOSTAT)
• The promotion of crop diversification of the mono-
intensive rice production systems by rice farmers for
higher incomes.
The declining yield growth
The average growth rate of rice yield during the last 3
decades was 1.9% per year, which is about five times the
growth rate of the harvested area (Table 2). Therefore, much
of the past increase was due to yield growth. However, a
close examination of the growth rate in rice yield shows
that yield growth rate has declined rapidly since the early
1980s. The average growth rate of rice yield was 3.68% per
year in 1981–85, 2.28% per year in 1986–90, 0.91% per
year in 1991–95, and only 0.74% per year in 1996–2000
(Fig. 2).
Several factors may have contributed to the rapid decline
in yield growth since the early 1980s; among them the
following factors are important:
Closing in on the yielding potential of high yielding
varieties
Several hundred high yielding varieties have been released
for cultivation by international and national agricultural
4
research institutions since the introduction of IR8 in 1966.
However, the yield per season has never been better than
IR8, although yield per day may be increased with the
development of early maturing varieties.
Declining productivity in intensive rice production
systems
Reports emerged in the early 1980s showed a yield de-
cline in the intensively cultivated rice plots within research
stations in the Philippines. Subsequent studies in several
other countries also reported yield declines. More recent
analyses support the earlier reports of declining yields from
research trials but could not ascertain the extent of the de-
cline in other areas of Asia, due to year to year variation in
yields. There are other observations indicating that continu-
ous cultivation of irrigated rice, where the soil is maintained
in anaerobic conditions for prolonged periods, does result
in disorders that limit yield (Pulver and Nguyen 1999).
Pressures from abiotic stresses such as salinity,
low temperature, and drought
• Increased salinity resulting from long-term rice produc-
tion in irrigated areas worldwide was reported by Pingali
and Rosegrant (1996) and in Australia by McDonald
(1994). Low rice yields due to salinity have also been
reported in southern Spain (Aguilar et al. 1997). In the
delta of the Kuban River in Krasnodar (Russia Federa-
tion), there are about 110,000 ha of saline soils and many
of them have been grown with rice (Zelensky, personal
communication).
• Rice production in temperate and subtropical climate
zones is limited by low temperature. Rice yields in
Aomori Prefecture in Japan in 1980 dropped to about
3 tonnes/ha from 6 tonnes/ha due to cool summer damage
(Kushibuchi 1997). In 1993, the average night temper-
ature went down to 11◦ C in summer, causing a high rate
of grain sterility in northern Italy, Japan and Korea (Tran
1994). Low temperature during reproductive stage was
also reported to be a major constraint to rice production
in California, USA (McKenzie et al. 1994), Australia
(McDonald 1994), Southern Brazil (Terres et al. 1994).
• Yield of rice planted under rainfed conditions and in
some cases under irrigated conditions is limited by
drought stress due to variation in rainfall and its dis-
tribution.
Pressures from biotic stresses
Full yield potential of modern rice varieties is not real-
ized because of the toll taken by the attack of diseases
and insects, while weed limits rice through competition for
sunlight, water, and nutrients.
• It is estimated that diseases and insects cause yield losses
of up to 25% annually. Stem borers are most destruc-
tive and common rice insects, while rice blast caused
by the fungus Pyricularia oryzae, and bacterial blight
caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae are the two
of the most serious and widespread diseases in rice
production.
• Heavy weed competition may lead to total crop failure.
Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli) is the dominant
weed in lowland rice production. With the increased
adoption of direct seeding methods, weedy rice (Oryza
sp.) has become another major weed in rice production
(Català 1995; Pulver and Nguyen 1999; Ferrero
2003).
The low return from rice production
Rice production activities provide main employment and
income to a majority of people in rural areas in develop-
ing countries. For example, on the average, rice production
activities employ 243 person-days/ha in Bangladesh, 195
person-days/ha in India, 156 person-days/ha in Indonesia
and 60–80 person-days/ha in the more mechanized pro-
duction systems of the Philippines and Thailand (Pingali
et al. 1997). Initially, the increase in rice yield raised the
return from rice production and incomes of farmers. How-
ever, since 1995 international rice prices have declined
markedly (Calpe 2003), while prices of production in-
puts such as fertilizers, other agro-chemicals, labor, fuel,
and rice machinery and equipment either increased or at
best remained unchanged. These factors have led to an
increase in production costs and subsequently a sharp re-
duction in the return from rice production. This has been
one of the major causes of poverty and hardship for many
small farmers in developing countries. The low return-
poverty cycle, in the long run, may affect the capacity
of farmers to invest in production inputs, which would
eventually lead to lower yield in a number of developing
countries.
In industrialized countries the increase in production
costs for rice-based farming activities has decreased
competitiveness. The production costs in Europe, USA,
Brazil and Japan are very high (Sanint and Zeigler
1994; Chataigner and Salmon 1996; Romero 1996).
Traditionally, rice production in industrialized countries is
highly subsidized. However, under the pressures from the
World Trade Organization, the subsidies in rice production
may be substantially reduced. Therefore, rice production
in industrialized countries could rapidly decline unless
significant progress is made in technology which could
greatly reduce the production costs. For example, both
rice production and harvested area in Japan have steadily
declined since 1985, although rice is an important food
crop of the population (Fig. 3).
Other socio-economic factors
Some socio-economic aspects may have an important im-
pact on rice development; most of them are related to rice
quality traits and health and environmental concerns.

Fig. 3 Rice harvested area and
production in Japan, 1970–2003
(Source of data: FAOSTAT)
Harvested Area (ha)
Quality traits
Taste, texture, color, and stickiness of rice varieties all in-
fluence consumer preferences. Consumers in South Asia
and the Middle East prefer dry flaky rice, while in Japan,
Taiwan, Korea, Egypt, and north China moist, sticky rice is
preferred; in parts of southern India, red rice is preferred.
Fragrant rices, such as Basmati are highly prized during
festivals and special occasions (Kennedy et al. 2003). In
the recent past the tendency to prefer long grain, soft and
aromatic rice has become more prevalent among rice con-
sumers around the globe. The demand for long grain or
“indica” type has gradually increased in Europe (Ferrero
and Nguyen 2004). Yield of high quality rice varieties, es-
pecially the aromatic ones, however, is generally still low.
Health and environmental concerns
The spread of malaria, due to mosquitoes, was a ma-
jor reason causing the restriction in rice production in
the past in some European countries, but the growth of
mosquitoes is even now an important concern of popula-
tions all over the world. Concerns on negative effects of
rice production on the environment have been remarkably
increasing especially over the last years. Most of these is-
sues are related to the emission of methane gases which
cause global warming and the harmful effects of pesti-
cide application to water, air, and bio-diversity of the rice-
based production systems (Ferrero et al. 2001, 2002). These
new concerns may gradually lead to further restrictions in
rice production in several rice cultivation areas. Integrated
management systems, developed through agronomical re-
search and supported by modelling of environmental ef-
fect of input (mainly water and pesticides) utilization, will
be in the short run a valuable solution to most of these
constraints.
Environmental resource protection is of increasing
public concern and has been reflected in a growing number
of international agreements such as the Convention on
Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
5
3,500,000 18,000,000
3,000,000 16,000,000
14,000,000
Production (tons)
2,500,000
12,000,000
2,000,000 10,000,000
1,500,000 8,000,000
6,000,000
1,000,000
4,000,000
500,000 2,000,000
0 0
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003
Harvested Area (ha) Production (tons)
Technical options for meeting the challenges
Science provides the basis for improving the productivity
and efficiency of rice-based systems. During past decades
increasing demand for rice has been met mainly through
yield-enhancing measures of the “Green Revolution” in
the 1970s, which introduced improved rice varieties and
production technologies. Hybrid rice and the New Rice for
Africa (NERICA) are two additional important advances in
the field of rice varietal development for achieving higher
or more stable productivity in different ecological zones.
The successful mapping of the rice genome in 2002 has
further increased the potential contribution of rice science
to sustainable increase in rice production.
Most existing high-yielding and hybrid varieties have
a potential yield that exceeds actual yield obtained by
farmers. The gap between the potential yield and the actual
yield was due to the deficiencies in crop management.
There are fortunately a number of improved crop man-
agement techniques that are ready for wide introduction
for enhancing the productivity of rice-based systems in a
sustainable manner. In addition, rice integrated crop man-
agement (RICM) systems have recently been developed
for efficient transfer of the crop management technologies.
Hybrid rice for irrigated rice production
The application of heterosis in rice production in China in
1974 was a major step in raising the yield potential. The
first generation of hybrid rice varieties (mostly three-line
hybrid) have a yielding advantage of 15–20% over high-
yielding varieties and its commercial production started in
1976. The two-line hybrid rice varieties, which have 5–10%
higher yield than that of three-line hybrid rice varieties,
were successfully commercialized in 1995. Several super
hybrids with a yield advantage of around 20% over current
three-line hybrids were recently developed. In recent years,
hybrid rice covered as much as 50% or 15 million ha of the
total rice area in China. The nationwide average yield of
hybrid rice was 7 tonnes/ha, which is about 1.4 tonnes/ha
higher than that of inbred varieties (Yuan 2004). The adop-
6
tion of hybrid rice in China has enabled a steady increase in
rice production allowing at the same time, to save several
million hectares of rice land for crop diversification.
The adoption of hybrid rice technology outside of China
has taken place since 1990 and in 2003 about 800,000 ha
planted to hybrid rice in countries such as Vietnam, India,
Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Myanmar. The ar-
eas under hybrid rice production in many Asian countries
outside of China, however, are only a small fraction of their
irrigated rice areas, suggesting the potential for hybrid rice
to increase rice yield and production in the next decade. The
wide adoption of hybrid rice, however, still needs technolo-
gies to increase the yield of F1 seed production, to lower
the prices of F1 seed. Improved crop management could in-
crease yield of F1 seed production, but the development of
CMS lines with stable sterility, higher outcrossing rates and
good grain quality will be the vital step for promoting wide
adoption of hybrid rice in the near future (Nguyen 2000).
NERICA rice for upland areas in west Africa
Upland rice yield is still generally low due to a number
of reasons. During the last decade, WARDA has devoted
efforts to develop new rice varieties for upland rice pro-
duction in West Africa by crossing O. sativa L. with O.
glaberrima Steud; they are called NERICA or new rice
for Africa. Initial field tests showed that under low-input-
management systems in the region, NERICA rice vari-
eties produced higher yield than the currently used vari-
eties (WARDA 2000). In general, NERICA rice varieties
have shorter growth durations than the existing varieties.
The shorter growth duration could help the rice crop to
escape the adverse effect of drought stresses on yield. It
also would facilitate the practice of diversified rice-based
cropping systems such as rice-leguminous crop, rice-cover
crop, and other similar systems in order to maintain soil
fertility and thus yield of upland rice (Nguyen 2003).
Other advances in rice breeding
In order to increase the yield potential of rice further, a new
plant type (NPT) was conceptualized by scientists at the
International Rice Research Institute in 1988. Three NPT
lines with 15–20% higher yield than the existing high-
yielding varieties have been released in China and one in
Indonesia (Khush 2004).
Crop gene pools are widened through hybridization of
crop cultivars with wild species, weedy races as well as
intra-subspecific crosses in order to increase the yield po-
tential of rice. Xiao et al. (1996) reported that some back-
crosses, which resulted from a cross between an Oryza
rufipogon accession from Malaysia and cultivated rice, out
yielded the recurrent parent by as much as 18%.
Rice is the first food crop for which the complete genome
sequence is available. This offers an unprecedented oppor-
tunity to identify, and functionally, characterize the genes
and biochemical pathways that are responsible for increas-
ing rice yield, resistance to biotic and abiotic stress and con-
sumer quality. Following are the promising developments:
• C4 plants such as maize and sorghum are more produc-
tive as compared to C3 rice and wheat because C4 plants
are 30–35% more efficient in photosynthesis. Matsuoka
el al. (2001) are trying to alter the photosynthesis of rice
from C3 to C4 pathway by introducing cloned genes
from maize into rice. If successful, the yield potential of
rice may increase by 30–35%.
• Bt genes have been introduced into rice for resistance
to yellow stem borer, a widespread rice insect in Asia
(Datta et al. 1997). Xu et al. (1996) reported transgenic
rice carrying cowpea trypsin inhibitor (Cpti) gene with
enhanced resistance against striped stem borer and pink
stem borer.
• Genes for resistance to blast and bacterial blight have
been transferred from O. minuta to improved rice
germplasm (Brar and Khush 1997).
• ots A and ots B genes for trehalose biosynthesis from
Escherichia coli were introduced into rice and transgenic
rice lines had increased tolerance for abiotic stresses such
as drought and salinity (Garg et al. 2002).
• Potrykus (2003) reported the successful development
of a genetically modified rice that contains more pro-
vitamin A—commonly called “golden rice”—using
agrobacterium-mediated transformation techniques to
transfer genes from the daffodil (Narcissus pseudonar-
cissus) and a bacterium (Erwina uredovora) to rice. Also,
the soybean ferritin gene was transferred into rice to in-
crease the iron content (Goto et al. 1999).
• Reviewing the 307 rice biotechnology patents filed from
404 organizations, Brookes and Barfoot (2003) reported
that transgenic technologies under development in rice
can be included into four categories: (1) herbicide toler-
ance (2) biotic stress resistance, (3) abiotic stress resis-
tance, and (4) nutritional traits. According to them, thus
far no commercial release of Transgenic or Genetically
Modified rice has occurred.
Narrowing the yield gap in irrigated systems with rice
integrated crop management systems
Irrigated rice is cultivated on about half of the total area
planted to rice, but it contributes to approximately 75%
of total rice production. The yielding potential of high-
yielding and hybrid rice varieties released for irrigated rice
production in tropical climates (10 tonnes/ha or more) is
much higher than yields that were obtained by best farmers
(7 or 8 tonnes/ha), while on the average, yields of irrigated
rice in many cases are still only 4 to 5 tonnes/ha. This shows
a large yield gap in irrigated rice production and the closing
of this gap could substantially increase rice production. In
September 2000, FAO organized the Expert Consultation
on the Yield Gap and Productivity Decline in Rice Produc-
tion. During the Expert Consultation, a number of recently
developed rice integrated crop management (RICM) sys-
tems were found promising for yield gap closing. They are:

• The Australian RiceCheck system: From 1973 to 1985,
rice yield in Australia stagnated at around 6 tonnes/ha.
The RiceCheck system was developed and transferred
in 1986. Australian average yield increased rapidly
and steadily to 9.65 tonnes/ha in 2000. Half of the
observed yield increase since 1986 can be attributed to
the adoption of new rice varieties and another half to the
adoption of RiceCheck system (Clampett et al. 2003).
• The Egyptian “Markbouk” system: It was developed
and disseminated for rice production in 1985 (Balal
1996) and has been modified considerably with time.
Rice yield in Egypt has steadily increased from
about 5.5 tonnes/ha in 1985 to above 9 tonnes/ha in
2002.
• The “P-7” or package of technologies for 7 tonnes/ha
of irrigated rice in Burkina Faso (Nguyen et al. 1994).
From its initial test site in the Kou Valley in Burkina Faso,
the P-7 was widely adopted by the Special Programme
for Food Security in Burkina Faso and in Senegal. The
adoption of the P-7 for irrigated rice has significantly
contributed to sustaining the productivity of rice produc-
tion systems in these two countries. In the Delta of the
Senegal River, not only yield increased, but also produc-
tion costs decreased as a result of the spread of the P-7
system through the Farmer Field School approach.
• The WARDA’s Rice-ICM system for irrigated rice in the
Sahel zone of West Africa: It was developed and trans-
ferred since 1995. Results of trials conducted in the 1998
and 1999 seasons showed that the application of Rice-
ICM system increased rice yield by 1.7 to 1.8 tonnes/ha.
The economic analysis of the application of Rice-ICM
system showed that the net benefit of rice production
in Senegal also increased by 184 Euro/ha and that in
Mauritania by 241 Euro/ha, although the production
costs with Rice-ICM system increased slightly. WARDA
concluded that through the RICM system farmers were
able to increase rice productivity, while maintaining or
even enhancing the quality of the natural resource base
(Wopereis et al. 2001).
Among the above RICM systems, the RiceCheck is the
only system that provides, for each crop management area,
the following guidance: (1) the reason why the recommen-
dations should be followed, (2) the recommended actions or
management practices, and (3) the expected outputs of the
correct application of the recommended actions or manage-
ment practices. For example, for crop nutrition the system
provides the following:
• Reason: Split Nitrogen Strategy – two steps which are
important to high yields.
• Recommended Actions: Apply sufficient pre-flood ni-
trogen to achieve optimum growth at panicle initiation,
apply phosphorus if a deficiency is indicated by paddock
and/or soil test, and topdress nitrogen at panicle initia-
tion based on shoot counts and NIR analysis using the
Rice NIR Tissue Test.
• KeyCheck or Expected Outputs: At panicle initiation
the Amaroo, Bogan, Illabong, and Jarrah (rice varieties)
7
should have 700–1100 shoots/m2 and a leaf nitrogen con-
tent (NIR) of 1.2–2.2% N; whilst the Pelde, Doongara,
Goolarah, YRF9, and YRL34 (rice varieties) should have
500–900 shoots/m2 and a NIR 1.2–2.0%.
Another innovative aspect of the Ricecheck system is the
use of an Action Framework, which has the following step:
• To understand the purpose of crop management
• To manage the crop using the recommended actions.
• To observe the performance of the application of the rec-
ommended actions. This requires farmers to get “inside”
the crop and inspect and observe.
• Observations must be supported by a measure of what is
actually occurring; observations must be objective.
• The measurements must be recorded.
• At the end of the season, crop performance and man-
agement results can be compared with KeyChecks or
Expected Outputs (e.g. yield, quality, and environmen-
tal outcomes) and interpreted. The successes (what went
according to plan) and the problems (what went wrong)
can be identified and judgements made about how to
make improvements in the future.
• The farmer can learn from these experiences and take
action to correct management weaknesses in the future.
The FAO International Rice Commission, in collabora-
tion with research and extension programmes in member
countries have conducted the modification and test of the
performance of the Australian’s RiceCheck system in rice
production under the conditions in developing countries.
Following are the initial results:
• Indonesia: farmers achieving all of the (five) target
“Check values” had a yield increase of 23% and a gross-
margins increase of 165% compared to those farmers
achieving none of the targets.
• Thailand: Thai RiceCheck system with 10 target checks
increased rice yield and reduced production cost. The
test results from the application of the Thai RiceCheck
system in 2002 and 2003 have led the governors of
10 rice-producing provinces in the country (Ayuthaya,
Suphanburi, Ratchaburi, Pathumtani, Chainat,
Chiengmai, Prachinburi, Nakhonratchasrima, Surin,
Lopburi) to adopt the system.
• Vietnam: The application of the Vietnamese RiceCheck
system helped farmers to save 50% of the seeds used
in direct rice seeding crops in the Delta of the Mekong
River. The results also showed that the use of the Leaf
Colour Chart in the application of nitrogen fertilizer at
the panicle initiation stage increased rice yield, while
reduced the application rate by 20%.
• Brazil and Venezuela: the application of the RiceCheck
system increased rice yield by about 30%.
Meeting the challenges of rice production through
implementation of the international year of rice
FAO has always believed that rice is one of its major con-
cerns. The FAO International Rice Commission (IRC) was
8
established in 1949 to promote cooperative action in mat-
ters related to the production, conservation, distribution,
and consumption of rice. The Secretariat of the IRC was
established in the Crop and Grassland Service of AGP
to assist in the promotion of cooperative action on rice
within FAO and between FAO and external institutions
and Member Countries. In order to promote harmoniza-
tion of global action on rice development and production,
the IRC Secretariat has worked in partnership with na-
tional systems and external institutions through four ma-
jor networks, which are: the Inter-Regional Collaborative
Research Network on Rice in the Mediterranean Climate
Areas (MED-RICE), the Wetland Development and Man-
agement Network/Inland Valley Swamps (WEDEM/IVS)
in Sub-Saharan Africa, the International Task-Force for
Hybrid Rice (INTAFOHR), and the Working Group on Ad-
vance Rice Breeding in Latin America (GRUMEGA). The
FAO International Rice Commission, IRRI and their mem-
ber countries started the initiative for establishing an IYR
in 1999, which led to the declaration of the International
Year of Rice by the United Nations General Assembly in
2002.
As requested by the UN General Assembly, FAO has
facilitated the implementation of the International Year of
Rice—2004 through a partnership under the guidance of
the Informal International Working Group for IYR whose
members include representatives from 17 major rice pro-
ducers and consumers, five UN agencies, three interna-
tional research institutions, NGOs and private sectors. The
fundamental objective of IYR implementation was to pro-
mote and help guide the efficient and sustainable devel-
opment of rice and rice-based production systems now
and in the future. In order to meet this overarching goal,
the IYR strategy focused on the following intermediary
objectives:
• Increase public awareness, at all levels, on the contri-
butions of rice-based systems for food security, better
nutrition, poverty alleviation, and livelihood improve-
ment.
• Increase public awareness on the diversity and the com-
plexity of rice-based production systems, as well as the
challenges and opportunities for sustainable develop-
ment of rice-based production systems.
• Promote and provide technical support to ensure sustain-
able development of rice and rice-based systems at the
global, regional, national, and community levels.
• Promote the conservation and enhancement of rice-based
products for economic, social, cultural, and human health
aspects of the population.
Concluding remarks
Rice is the staple food for over half of the world’s popula-
tion. Almost a billion households in Asia, Africa, and the
Americas depend on rice systems for their main source of
employment and livelihood. Rice systems support a wide
variety of plants and animals, which also help supplement
rural diets and incomes. Rice is therefore on the frontline in
the fight against world hunger and poverty. While the Green
Revolution of the 1970s greatly alleviated the global burden
of hunger in some parts of the world, these benefits have
been overcome by continuing growth in population. Today
there are still 840 million people suffering from chronic
hunger, over 50% of whom live in areas dependent on rice
production for food, income, and employment.
Fortunately rice science has continued to advance
through improved rice varieties and crop management prac-
tices to enhance the sustainability of rice-based systems.
Harnessing the improved rice technologies for increasing
the productivity of rice is too large for any single country,
institution or organization. The International Year of Rice
presents a unique opportunity for farmers, consumers, en-
vironmentalists, government ministries, international agen-
cies and stakeholders from civil society to work together
for a shared goal. The need for a sustainable increase in rice
production affects everyone. The International Year of Rice
provide us with a chance to improve food security, allevi-
ate poverty and preserve the environment for the billions
of people for whom Rice is Life.
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